Best Sides To Have Played in the Premier League

[Moon Monkey]

I loved the United 94 team, with Kanchelskis,  Sharpe, Cantona etc

 

Brilliant to watch.

[Happy Blue]

40 minutes ago, Stan said:

Trying to work out the sheer ignorance of this place.

I know right, how can people not say the record breaking 2018 Man City team is not the greatest team of all time with a straight face is unbelievable!  

[Stan]

1 minute ago, Happy Blue said:

I know right, how can people not say the record breaking 2018 Man City team is not the greatest team of all time with a straight face is unbelievable!  

It's disgusting isn't it? So rude being dismissed like this. 

[Happy Blue]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

It's disgusting isn't it? So rude being dismissed like this. 

Yep! some proper wack jobs on here mate 

[Stan]

1 minute ago, Happy Blue said:

Yep! some proper wack jobs on here mate 

Might take away Danny's option to start topics. 

[DeadLinesman]

To be fair, Leicester are a much bigger club than Citeh.

[Danny]

Just now, Stan said:

Might take away Danny's option to start topics. 

Please stare at your display picture for me Stanley 

[Stan]

2 minutes ago, Danny said:

Please stare at your display picture for me Stanley 

Okay, BRB... 

[LFCMike]

Man United 07-09. Three titles in a row. A European Cup and another final appearance the following year. The only side that will come close to that since then is Liverpool if they were to win the league this season

You don't get to be called truly great without winning the big one

[Danny]

Just now, Stan said:

Okay, BRB... 

DESGUSTAN

I will come to a compromise, get me the up to date Brentford crest and I will involve Leicester in this debate.

[Machado]

I was 6 in 2000 so I'm too young to remember anything from that time or before, so from what I've seen it's 07/08 Man United followed by last season's Liverpool. Both very quick sides with very talented forwards, defensively solid and fun to watch.

I was not really watching the premier league regularly at the time of Arsenal's invencibles or Mourinho's first season with Chelsea so again my knowledge is limited to the last 14 years or something.

[Carnivore Chris]

The United side of 99. They may not have broken the tally for most points that season, but they had to keep up a level of performance over 3 big competitions in order to achieve what they did.

They had a cracking bunch of players that year as well, perfectly balanced and quality in every position.

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

@Danny We won the FA Cup as well in 2006/07

 

Personally, the United 98/99 side tops it. The mentality of that team to grind out and win the treble is nothing short of extraordinary. This is all personal preference. 

 

1. 99 United team. 

2. 2006-2009 United & 2004-2008 Chelsea (these were too close to call)

3. 2002-2004 Arsenal 

4. 2017-2019 Man City 

5. 2018-2020 Liverpool. 

 

I'd say this overall, but would swap Arsenal and City around. Not that the Arsenal side wasn't brilliant (probably my favourite side out of all mentioned, as I loved watching that side play) but City were unstoppable over all domestic competitions that season and played a style of football that any football fan enjoys to watch. They accumulated the most points in a single season on top of that. Arsenal were unbeaten but they obtained quite a lot of draws.

The United and Chelsea sides of the mid to late 00s were also the teams to beat around that time. Breaking them down was a nightmare. Strong, physical and difficult to beat sides. Very different to both the City and Arsenal sides mentioned above(who were more appealing to watch) but a tougher nut to crack.

 

Great thread also @Danny, you're on form at the moment in creating some interesting discussions

[MUFC]

Best side not to win the title? Been Keegan under Newcastle who were great to watch. But  Rodgers team when they came 2nd wins it for me.

[Danny]

4 minutes ago, Carnivore Chris said:

The United side of 99. They may not have broken the tally for most points that season, but they had to keep up a level of performance over 3 big competitions in order to achieve what they did.

They had a cracking bunch of players that year as well, perfectly balanced and quality in every position.

 

I'd say this overall, but would swap Arsenal and City around. Not that the Arsenal side wasn't brilliant (probably my favourite side out of all mentioned, as I loved watching that side play) but City were unstoppable over all domestic competitions that season and played a style of football that any football fan enjoys to watch. They accumulated the most points in a single season on top of that. Arsenal were unbeaten but they obtained quite a lot of draws.

The United and Chelsea sides of the mid to late 00s were also the teams to beat around that time. Breaking them down was a nightmare. Strong, physical and difficult to beat sides. Very different to both the City and Arsenal sides mentioned above(who were more appealing to watch) but a tougher nut to crack.

 

Great thread also @Danny, you're on form at the moment in creating some interesting discussions

Good point about Arsenal's draws, it does create a discussion about how you view a side that get less points and don't lose vs a side who get more but do lose. It's almost an aesthetic discussion more than anything and it's not like Arsenal as a club to have at times valued style over substance.

[LFCMike]

1 minute ago, MUFC said:

Best side not to win the title? Been Keegan under Newcastle who were great to watch. But  Rodgers team when they came 2nd wins it for me.

Easy, Liverpool 18/19

[Danny]

Just now, LFCMike said:

Easy, Liverpool 18/19

Not sure there's a better argument in terms of points won or other major silverware won too

[Moon Monkey]

Does there need to be a winner?

Title asks sides, thats plural!

 what is in the human mind, that we have to say, well my side was better than your side, as we got x amount of points? 

[Danny]

1 minute ago, Moon Monkey said:

Does there need to be a winner?

Title asks sides, thats plural!

 what is in the human mind, that we have to say, well my side was better than your side, as we got x amount of points? 

alright buzzkill

[Dr. Gonzo]

30 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Man United 07-09. Three titles in a row. A European Cup and another final appearance the following year. The only side that will come close to that since then is Liverpool if they were to win the league this season

You don't get to be called truly great without winning the big one

Agree with that, as much as I don't want to... 3 titles in a row + a European cup is absurdly good.

I'm obviously biased, but I think the recent Liverpool and City sides that had to win the league by being virtually perfect are some incredibly good sides that I think are some of the best title sides I've seen in my lifetime. And easily the best Liverpool sides of my lifetime.

Arsenal sides featuring Bergkamp & Henry were always an absolute joy to watch too, so special mentions for that era of Arsenal. Also special (and very fucking begrudging mention) for many of the Alex Ferguson sides that managed to routinely grind out title wins and ruin my fucking childhood.

[Burning Gold]

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

Genuinely a big "what if" had Mourinho stayed with us in 2008. The team made it to two finals and lost the premiership on the last day. Team basically managed themselves. 

What happened there? I remember it being a big shock that he just upped and left one day, but I don't think we ever found out why

I remember being massively relieved at the time because it genuinely felt like Chelsea were about to take over English football like PSG have done in France, which is testament to their dominance at the time, but like you say feels like a "what might've been" more than anything in hindsight

[DNA]

33 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

Man United 07-09. Three titles in a row. A European Cup and another final appearance the following year. The only side that will come close to that since then is Liverpool if they were to win the league this season

You don't get to be called truly great without winning the big one

Looking back more closely at that United side, Chelsea were too close pound for pound for me, and only that bit of luck carried them through to be better historically, a John Terry penalty slip and a very interesting refereeing performance in the semi-final, for which they would have met United again. Both great eras for those two clubs mind, neither those teams match United’s 99 side or Chelsea 2004/05 though.

Into the new era with Liverpool/City I’d say quality wise we’ll look back on that in a similar vein albeit City’s lack of European pedigree will lessen the shine for them legacy wise. 

[Cicero]

1 hour ago, Burning Gold said:

What happened there? I remember it being a big shock that he just upped and left one day, but I don't think we ever found out why

I remember being massively relieved at the time because it genuinely felt like Chelsea were about to take over English football like PSG have done in France, which is testament to their dominance at the time, but like you say feels like a "what might've been" more than anything in hindsight

Elite levels of petty from both Roman and Mourinho. Particularly from the former. Forgot which games they were exactly, but Roman used to come to Mourinho & the dressing room showing his displeasure in the performance. Mourinho got upset being embarrassed like that and flat out told Roman to sack him if he wasn't happy. 

That was what initially happened and it escalated to both of them mutually agreeing to part ways months later. A decision that in hindsight potentially cost seeing our spine win a lot more. The 2008 season is still a haunting nightmare. 

 

[Burning Gold]

Yeah, the Arsenal invincibles thing is overplayed a bit for me. It's nice and all, but the aim in a league season is to get as many points as possible and that side only just cracks the top 10.

For me, and I'm echoing others a bit, but there are only two answers here. Over a 3-4 year period you're not a great side unless you've won the European Cup/Champions League. You can say it's harder to win the league (which is wrong, imo) but everyone in this list has won the league and ultimately it only makes you champions of your country. European dominance is the bigger goal. You can say it's a cup competition and there's luck involved, but if that's stopping you 3-4 years in a row, you've got bigger problems.

That leaves Liverpool and Manchester United. It's got to be that United team doesn't it? 3 titles in a row and the European Cup is an incredible record

That said, if you look at a single season, no one comes close to Liverpool 19/20. Before the shutdown, we'd won something stupid like 25 out of 27. We didn't hit the same heights afterwards for various reasons, but if not for that we probably would've finished on about 130 points.

Also, and I know you've sort of addressed it @Danny, but I'd probably argue this iteration of Liverpool started in 18/19. Obviously we get van Dijk in 2018 which is a big difference maker and Robertson and TAA start to get phased in then too, but it's not until the summer that the core of the team really gets completed with Alisson and Fabinho. I know every team in this list will have had some player turnover season to season, but the jump in quality is staggering. Absolute shite like Mignolet, Moreno and Can replaced with some of the world's best in their position in Alisson, Robertson and Fabinho.

[MUFC]

1 hour ago, DNA said:

Looking back more closely at that United side, Chelsea were too close pound for pound for me, and only that bit of luck carried them through to be better historically, a John Terry penalty slip and a very interesting refereeing performance in the semi-final, for which they would have met United again. Both great eras for those two clubs mind, neither those teams match United’s 99 side or Chelsea 2004/05 though.

Into the new era with Liverpool/City I’d say quality wise we’ll look back on that in a similar vein albeit City’s lack of European pedigree will lessen the shine for them legacy wise. 

Good points, Jose won back to back titles when he joined Chelsea. But for his third season we started fighting back and won the title in Jose's third season at Chelsea. In his 4th season he was sacked, but for me this was Fergies best side, the 2007-2008 side which won the CL. I agree Terry slipping was the fine margins but if you watch the re-run of the game, we should have had it sewn up in the first half. We had chances galore, but that's football. Is a shame Jose never stuck around to battle Fergie's 2007-2009 side. 2008-2009 would have been great if Jose was around, it was Fergie vs Rafa that season. Just imagine Jose was at Chelsea and they were still in the mix?

[Cicero]

1 minute ago, MUFC said:

Good points, Jose won back to back titles when he joined Chelsea. But for his third season we started fighting back and won the title in Jose's third season at Chelsea. In his 4th season he was sacked, but for me this was Fergies best side, the 2007-2008 side which won the CL. I agree Terry slipping was the fine margins but if you watch the re-run of the game, we should have had it sewn up in the first half. We had chances galore, but that's football. Is a shame Jose never stuck around to battle Fergie's 2007-2009 side. 2008-2009 would have been great if Jose was around, it was Fergie vs Rafa that season. Just imagine Jose was at Chelsea and they were still in the mix?

Aye just ignore Lampard and Drogba hitting the post why don't ya